This blog is devoted to the poetry and other lyrical writings of Dr Karl Shuker - in particular his published volume of poetry, 'Star Steeds and Other Dreams' (CFZ Press: Bideford, 2009). Dr Karl Shuker is best known as a zoologist, cryptozoologist, and author of numerous non-fiction books and articles, but he is also a longstanding poet, as revealed and promoted by this blog.

How to purchase Star Steeds and Other Dreams

If you wish to buy this book, which is 230 pages long and is ISBN 978-1-905723-40-9, it is readily available online from its publisher, CFZ Press of Bideford, Devon, UK at http://www.cfz.org.uk/ and also from such major literary websites as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Waterstones, W H Smith, and sellers on AbeBooks to name but a few. You can also purchase a signed copy directly from me, the author - please email me at karlshuker@aol.com for full details.

Available from Amazon.com , from Amazon.co.uk , and directly from the publisher in quantities at: www.cfz.org.uk.

Tuesday, 31 August 2010

My very first dog was Patch, a rough-haired Jack Russell terrier, whom I loved dearly. As he grew older (he lived for twelve and half years – a good age for his breed), he became ever more relaxed, but in his younger days, like all puppies, he took great joy in waging war with the world outside. Yet with us he was a gentle, intelligent little soul, filled with love and wisdom far beyond his species.

PATCH - A FOUR-LEGGED FRIEND

A little whiskered face enquiresIf he may join me by the fire,For oft we sit, just he and I,And watch the red flames flicker by.

And though the night be dark and cold,He slumbers, reaching Sleep’s calm foldOf visitors to dreamy lands,With silent shores and silver sands.

Yet when he wakes, he sits up straight,Or if he’s sleeping, and we’re late,He growls in puppy-thunder tonesFor ending dreams of juicy bones.

But then he’s up, and runs outsideTo see if any cat dares rideHis fence with velvet paws of steelThat, five curved silver claws, conceal.

And if there is a bird in flightHis anger makes a dreadful sight,As gates are mauled in raging stormsOf fury from this tiny form.

But when the world is still and calm,Then he bodes no-one any harm.And two dark eyes gaze up at me,So brown and warm for all to see.

Those eyes: like liquid pools of Thought,So dark and deep, for Nature caughtThe intellect of other minds,Of his and human thoughts combined

When she designed those shining wellsOf secrets he can never tell.For we know not his canine speech,As we have no-one who can teach

Us his strange tongue of howls and barks,So we are e’er left in the darkAs to his knowledge of our world,And truths that ne’er will be unfurled.

And yet he understands our speech,Though he had no-one who could teachHim, so as Life just flits us by,Who is the dumb one – he, or I?

Wednesday, 11 August 2010

I wrote this poem as a paean of praise to Nature – and, indeed, to Supernature, even Ultranature, perfect Nature beyond humanity’s normal sensory perceptions – and to its glory through all eternity, as personified by Perpetua.

And through the skies the sun was drawnBy two emblazoned horsesThat raced along a burnished trail –Two crimson, fiery forcesWith streaming tails like scarlet lyres,And scorching eyes like dancing fires.

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